Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MARINE BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY
Volume 366, Issue 1-2, Pages 92-98Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.jembe.2008.07.012
Keywords
Correlative sampling design; Dimensional analysis; Fractal analysis; Gradient sampling design; Heterogeneity; Nested sampling; Scale-transition theory; Spatial data
Categories
Funding
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Using modern computer based search engines we were able to assemble, review, and document the rise of the concept of scale in benthic ecology. In the early literature the term appears to have been most commonly used to verbally qualify a result as being found at a particular spatial scale. However we document a shift from verbal expression to quantitative methods that explicitly incorporate scale into the design of the study. Examples include the development of nested multi-scale studies and experiments conducted over large spatio-temporal scales at the level of estuary or region. We also review novel methods for assessing scale effects in benthic ecosystems. First, gradient or correlative study designs have been developed in order to assess spatial and temporal heterogeneity in benthic ecosystems. These designs involve the careful selection of study site locations along gradients, or recommend nesting small-scale experiments within a broad-scale correlative framework. Secondly, we briefly assess the development of statistical analytical techniques to analyze spatial data and formal mathematical techniques for scaling functional relationships. We believe that the design and analytical advances identified in this review provide a framework for ecologists to address pressing large-scale questions. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available